Tanuki's Race Car Build S14

[Tanuki]

So I have been wanting to build a dedicated race car for a while now. I don't have the budget to do it all at once, so it will come slowly. I will compete in the car through the various stages as well. I will update as I can.

This car was purchased 4-21-2011

Here it was when I got it:

[Tanuki]

Oh and I painted the wheels with plastidip.



4-22-11
Mostly Gutted it tonight in about an hour.

I still need to rip out the 20lbs of sound deadening, Door Cards, and get some race seats.

[Tanuki]

4-23-11

I had some bondo spots showing through, so I cut them all out today. Started by sanding the areas down to find the bondo, and started to chizel it out, but then I realized I am going to be smoothing it out anyway, so I took a die-grinder to the bondo and just cut it all out. There were a couple of deep spots, but most of the bondo in the areas was just finishing/ filler. I also ground out the couple of rust spots on the roof. Luckily not deep at all, but I will smooth it all out next week.



Once all the metal was exposed, I went over it with etching primer. I hope that the bondo will stick to the etching primer.





I have never worked in bondo or body work other than a couple of paint jobs and a moto rebuild, so I hope that I make it all good in the end.

[Tanuki]

I just decided to go for it on the bondo. I guess it should be easy to fix if I shave it down wrong. Tomorrow is the day for the sculpting. I think it will turn out fine.

Sorry for the awesome pics:





5-5-11
These Came today!

[Tanuki]

my mirrors came today:


5-17-11


5-22-11

Got my new wheels and added them to the wall:

[Tanuki]

5/25/11:

uh oh, almost ready for parts to go on!





Color looks a bit light because the image is washed out. It is a lighter BRG because they made the BRG lighter on the American LEmans DBR, and that was the color I wanted:


Here is the actual paint sprayed on a card with clear on it:


and here is the car still pre clear:

[Tanuki]

Yesterday:
Ok got it home and got the Mirrors on. The passenger mirror really is worthless though how it sits.

[d-man478]

looks good so far!

[97240TB]

I wanna take a bath in that paint, looks good. Just wish you would have tore the whole car down and sprayed everything that color.

[ManoNegra]

liking that color
I've always wanted to paint a car a similar color
maybe a little darker
liking where this is going so far

what type of racing you planning on doing?

[Tanuki]

I am building for MPRA road racing at Miller Motorsports Park ( Miller Motorsports Park » Performance Driving, Riding, Racing, Karting Schools and Road-Racing Events ), but while I am building (for the next year or two) I will be running the local time attack series ( Lap Battle Motorsports Events ). I may run some other events in the mean time as well. Biggest issue is money, second is time. I think that is the cycle though.

I actually started to work on the coilovers yesterday and found that the rear drivers side wheel was bent, sandwiching the lug in. So, I had to cut the spoke off (Not a huge deal since I hate the wheels and knew they were damaged). Finally I got them off. The issue here is that my BBK won't ship from Stoptech till June 3, and I have a race June 4, so not only do I have a Lap Battle I have to race without my Big Brake Kit, I also can't put the nice 5 lugs on because I can't do the conversion without the rotors. Adding insult to injury, I ruined the 17's I had in a 4x114. SO I get to rock 15's for Lap Battle because I really am that pathetic.

Wheel:


Coilovers have not been fully adjusted because I am waiting till the real wheels are on before I tinker with them.



On the 15's

[Nick_04K]

Sweet! A build from Utah for real motor sports competition.

Looks great so far!

[redhatchy92]

love the color. keep it up it looks good

[twyztidmind]

Nice Build. Thats some super glossy paint! Looks good.

[Persona]

Going nicely.

Should have just taken the headlights and taillights out though. Along with the grill.

[Tanuki]

^Thanks. I think that because the car is black, and it is a track car, I really wasn't too worried about that. I did do the door jams though Honestly if I had a full interior you wouldn't have any idea just looking at it.

Spent a few hours chiseling out sound deadening material. I tried dry ice, but It still didnt come out as smooth and nice as a lot of the others I have seen. Is that just a matter of using paint remover on the leftover tar?

Total weight of deadening material removed: 25lbs

and there is still a little bit left.

[s13silvia_R]

wow, the color looks pretty damn gnarly bro.
The color reminds me of the Intense Motorsport G35.

[AceUp]

Originally Posted by s13silvia_R

wow, the color looks pretty damn gnarly bro.
The color reminds me of the Intense Motorsport G35.

i think this color is nicer... i dont know what kind of lap battling you but over here there is a point system that you upgrade your car in. adding a huge brake kit takes alot of those points away that you can put towards going faster. i would rock stock brakes with super aggressive pads, SS lines,and super good brake fluid. cool car tho!!

[Tanuki]

Our classing system is pretty bad. Gutting the interior with everything else stock puts you in the race class. Even r rated tires on a totally stock platform puts you in the race class. Unfortunately the bigger goal is door to door. Because of this I am building as I can afford bits and pieces and will use lap battle as practice if nothing else. I ran a stock interior mini Cooper before and consistently took 3rd in a lot of events, but honestly I'd rather run race rwd than race front wheel drive, even if it means I lose

[Tae-Hyun]

^nice attitude.

Way to go with progress too. Sometimes you gotta work with what you got and your doing good man. Nice color too, really came out nicely. Cant wait to see your final project. Its gonna be something worthwhile and definitely something to look back on.

Keep it up and keep pushing!

[Tanuki]

Thank you. I have had some pretty fun builds over the years. This one is looking good IMO. I like it a lot so far

[soreballz]

That color is rad. It looked neat pre-clear, too.

[Tanuki]

Thanks! I put two of the 17's back on in the rear. the 15's just feel dangerous even around town.

[zooopreme]

So far so good, iffy about the paint but great progress so far

[Om1kron]

Originally Posted by zooopreme

So far so good, iffy about the paint but great progress so far

LOL facepalmed through every picture of it being painted with the lights covered.

[Tanuki]

^its a race car. I almost just vinyl wrapped it and called it good.


SO because I have a Lap Battle this weekend and don't want to drill a new set of holes in my rotors, nor do I want to run 15's in the rear, I compromised with one of the ugliest forms of staggering on earth. 15's up front, and 17's in rear.

I already know this car won't be winning based on the classing and current build status, but this will make the day a bit better.



(I am hoping this is only like this for 1-2 weeks max)

[Nicksx]

smaller wheels spin faster. i noticed a huge difference going from 15's to 17's. car seems quicker with 15's. heh cant hate on that, plus tires are cheaper nice build. sick paint.

[punxva]

i really like the color, its looking like your off to a good start

[Tanuki]

Originally Posted by Nicksx

smaller wheels spin faster. i noticed a huge difference going from 15's to 17's. car seems quicker with 15's. heh cant hate on that, plus tires are cheaper nice build. sick paint.

Yes, but they don't grip

[Tanuki]

Originally Posted by Om1kron

LOL facepalmed through every picture of it being painted with the lights covered.

I bet it would look worse if I had left the lights uncovered.